Pet peeve of the day

[unixronin]

People who don't know the difference between 'break' and 'brake'.  It seems to be becoming more and more widespread.

On this subject, damn Merriam-Webster to the blackest pits of hell:  They're compounding the problem by returning the same page for both queries, which is just going to help convince people that they're the same fucking word.  And I don't have a subscription to the OED....

(Does anyone know a non-subscription online English dictionary that does NOT simply forward to dictionary.reference.com?)

---

UPDATE (thanks janetmiles for pointing me at OneLook):  The Cambridge Dictionary of American English, for one, has separate and distinct listings for brake and break, and is quite clear on the understanding that the latter is NOT a device for stopping a vehicle.

Comments

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

http://www.onelook.com/ hits a number of dictionaries.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Thanks. That could have saved me a lot of frustration in the past, had I known about it before....

[dafydd.livejournal.com]

http://smac.ucsd.edu/cgi-bin/http_webster

My favorite.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

That's a great one, too. Gives almost all of the definitions of brake, not just the most common. The only one it misses (that I'm aware of) is brake, a machine for folding sheet metal.

break and brake

[jjwright55.livejournal.com]

It's simple; break is a keyword and brake is a variable. :->

Re: break and brake

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Heh. :)

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

When I go to m-w.com, and search for break, or brake, I get two different pages.

-Ogre

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Curious. What are the URLs to the two result pages? When I go to m-w.com and search for break or brake, both queries drop me onto the same dictionary.reference.com page. The URLs differ in the query word, but it's the same page with the same content.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=break&x=0&y=0

http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=brake&x=0&y=0

-Ogre

Curiouser and curiouser.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

It's odd and interesting that the same query that, for you, stays on m-w.com dumps me onto dictionary.reference.com instead, the same as dictionary.com does.

It's also odd and interesting that the m-w.com page lists as its main entry for 'brake' the archaic past of 'break', as in "Then toke he hys Staffe, and over his Legge he brake yt."

Since I do have a subscription to the OED....

[smileswhf.livejournal.com]

Brace yourself, there a pile of entries for each.

brake, n1
1. Fern, bracken.
2. Comb. and attrib., as brake-bush, -fern, -root; brake of the wall, the common polypody

brake n2
A clump of bushes, brushwood, or briers; a thicket. Also attrib., as in brake-axe.

brake n3
1. A toothed instrument for braking flax or hemp.
2. A baker's kneading-machine. Hence brakesman, break(s)man, a man who operates a baker's kneading-machine; brake- (or break-) staff
3. In Brewing and similar processes: A wooden mill to crush green fruits, hops, etc.
4. A heavy harrow for crushing clods. Also called brake-harrow.
5. An instrument resembling a pair of scissors set wide open, for peeling the bark from willows for basket-making.

brake, n4
1. A lever or handle for working a machine. {dag}a. The winch of a crossbow
b. The handle of a pump.
c. A lever forming part of the apparatus for boring coal.
2. Comb., as brake-pump, a pump worked by a brake; brake-sieve (Mining), a rectangular sieve worked by a lever or brake.

brake, n5
A bridle or curb. (Said in Chambers Cycl. Supp. 1753 to be a synonym of BARNACLE1.)

brake, n6
1. A cage of iron or wooden bars; a trap;
2. A framework intended to hold anything steady; a frame in which a horse's foot is placed when being shod; also in Ship-building
b. fig. to set one's face in a brake: to assume an immovable expression of countenance. Obs.
3. An instrument of torture; a rack.
4. A turner's lathe.

brake, n7
1. An apparatus for retarding the motion of a wheel by means of pressure applied to the circumference; usually consisting of a wooden block or an iron or steel band, and of a lever for pressing it against the tire. Also fig. of any retarding agency.
2. Short for ‘brake-van’
3. Comb. and attrib., as brake-apparatus, -band, -bar, -beam, -block, -lever, -pedal, -power, -rod, -shoe (see quots.); also brake-compartment, brake-van, or simply brake, the compartment or the carriage in a train which contains the brake apparatus;

(there were 10 more entries (adj & verb) that I left out)

break, n1
1. a. An act of breaking; breakage, fracture.
b. With adverbs, expressing the action of the corresponding verbal combinations (BREAK v. 48-57); as break-away, break-in, break-out,
2. break of day or morn: the first appearance of light, the dawn. So break of June: the beginning or opening days of June.
3. {dag}An irruption, a breaking in. Obs.
4. a. A breaking forth, a burst (of sound). Obs.
b. An act of breaking out or away (see BREAK v. 49c and 55b); a rush or dash; an escape; freq. with to make. orig. U.S.
c. Hort. A bud or shoot that sprouts from a plant-stem. Also attrib., as break bud
5. Cricket. A ‘twist’ or deviation of the ball from its previous direction on touching the ground. break-back: the breaking in of a ball from the off side (i.e. with a right-handed bowler).
6. a. Billiards. A consecutive series of successful strokes; the number of points thus scored. b. Similarly in Croquet.
7. a. A broken place, gap, or opening: of more general application than BREACH
b. An opening, a bay
8. An interruption of continuity: a. in anything material; spec. in geological strata, a fault; also in the deck of a ship
(and that goes on for another 30 or so entries)

break, n2
1. A large carriage-frame (having two or four wheels) with no body, used for breaking in young horses.
2. A large wagonette.


See what a can of worms you opened up ;)

Re: Since I do have a subscription to the OED....

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Ooh, worms! :)

[greyman.livejournal.com]

The problem is, of course, listing the *archaic* meaning *first*. It should be last (or last before specialized slang, maybe).

I looked for "break" first and got a reasonable entry, and then "brake", getting the single archaic meaning.

The internet reels with the symptoms of homonym poisoning.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

The internet reels with the symptoms of homonym poisoning.

So you say we're float-ing in them? :)

[greyman.livejournal.com]

IEEE!

Thanks for pointering that out. I still find m-w.com to be dereference of choice.